Andreas Antonopoulos: Bitcoin is the Real Electronic Cash

Andreas Antonopoulos recently spoke about cash and Bitcoin at an event in France. Speaking at the Merkle Conference 2016, he explained that the days of cash is now counted and it is soon going to be extinct. Cash has been one of the most successful peer-to-peer payment options for thousands of years. The same can’t be said about electronic fiat payments as it is more of a “person-to-corporation-to-corporation and then person” transaction. The corporations being banks, payment processors etc.

Antonopoulos explained the problems faced by small businesses when they receive electronic payments from their customers. Unlike peer-to-peer cash transaction, the electronic payments are subject to realization, which may happen in one day or a week or sometimes a month. In the case of a fraud or other defaults, the business owner may never see the money. Not to mention the transaction fees of anywhere between 0.5% to 2% of the transaction value depending upon the mode of electronic payment.

As the use of cash reduces, people are now at the mercy of banks and payment processing companies. The licensing regime and interference of corporations, governments, and other entities have reduced everyone into a consumer by making it hard for